Folding tables, seats and other collapsible furniture pieces are very popular in today's society. Apartment living has created a demand for space saving devices, and increased leisure time activities like picnics and sports, have increased the need for lightweight, stowable furniture. Conventional folding furniture of all sizes and types are available which utilize various collapsible and folding support structures. However, high cost, clumsy appearance, awkwardness of operation, instability, and many other deficiencies render known existing devices less than satisfactory.
Typically conventional folding tables have four legs pivotally mounted at their upper ends to the underside of four corners of a square table top. Each leg pivots to a position within a recess in the table top when the table is in the storage or collapsed position. To erect the table top to its open or operable position, each leg is separately manually pivoted to a position at right angles to the top. Slide bar or spring operated locking devices maintain the legs in upright position. The underside of the folded table does not present a smooth appearance and the recessed legs remain exposed as a hazard to catch objects. The opening procedure is clumsy and time consuming, with the possibility of pinching the user's fingers in the mechanism.
Similarly, conventional folding chairs, like folding bridge chairs, do not present a smooth appearance when in the collapsed position, and lie less than flat. Stacking of collapsed chairs is inhibited and slow because of the bulging contour of the folded structure. The legs of the folded chair protrude and present hazards and a cluttered appearance.
Conventional TV-snack and tray-tables typically comprise two interlocking inverted "U"-shaped leg elements hinged together at their middles to support a tray-like top snapped into position on the horizontal crosspieces of the spread skeletal framework. To collapse the device, the tray top is unsnapped, the leg pieces are folded against each other, and the tray is re-snapped to hang loosely down from one of the crossbars along the collapsed leg structure. Even when a stacking rack is used, the legs protrude as appendages and present a hazard and a cluttered appearance in the storage position. The assembly/disassembly procedure is cumbersome, and typical tray-table arrangement is unstable when open. Because the tray top itself serves as the means to lock the table in open position there is risk that the structure will collapse when a load is applied should the tray not be securely snapped to the crosspieces.